Ready to return.
Overlooked last week in the wave of roster moves by the Bucs was Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht brought back a glue guy, Ko Kieft.
While Kieft is listed as a tight end, he’s not much of a receiver. Doesn’t mean he can’t catch but he will never be confused with foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski.
What Kieft brings to the table on offense is a gnarly attitude and a nose for blocking.
Kieft is also a valuable special teams guy. So earlier this week, making an in-studio appearance on the “Pat and Aaron Show” with co-hosts Pat Donovan and Aaron Jacobson heard on WDAE-AM 620/WDAE-FM 95.7, Kieft was asked what he treasures more, a nasty block that springs a runner for a big gain or rocking a return man on kickoff or punt return?
Kieft was torn.
“Oh, that’s tough,” Kieft said. He added he really joins driving a guy into the ground with a pancake block with the syrup being that the block leads to a nice gain.
But Kieft seemed to side with a big tackle on returns, and not for the obvious reason.
“Pancaking people is a great feeling,” Kieft said. “Both are pretty equal. But a hard tackle… is hard to beat.”
Kieft explained that when he blasts a return man, it causes a ripple effect. The defense comes flying on the field and is visibly hyped over the tackle, wanting to continue to dish out more punishment.
Kieft, who missed the final 14 games last year after breaking a leg in Week 3, explained how football is so grueling physically. That the only day a player feels good is the first day of training camp.
The rest of the season, Kieft said, a player never really feels good and it’s almost a second job to fight through various ailments to get back on the field on Sundays.
“You are going to feel like garbage most of the year, just from practices and games,” Kieft said. “Once the games get rolling, you sort of get into a little bit of rhythm.
“But it is hard to just feel like you’re completely fine.”
Kieft said he did have shoulder surgery after the 2023 season, even though he fought through the pain and only missed one game that year. Last year was the first time Kieft dealt with a major injury since at least high school.